Will the use of the “European flag” (a parliamentary system designed to fast-track EU-related laws) for the amendments to the laws related to the construction of corridors 8 and 10d, have any consequences over the future process of Macedonia’s EU integrations, the Ambassador of Holland Dirk Jan Kop was asked in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

“Yes, I think they may. The EU legislation is very clear. One cannot ignore the rules of public acquisitions, i.e. one cannot circumvent the tender procedures in the contract. There are only two circumstances when that is allowed. The first one is when national security is violated – when you have tanks on your border, you don’t wait for the best offer to buy weapons, and the second one is when there is a national catastrophe. When there is an earthquake, you don’t waste time looking for the cheapest blood plasma, you need it immediately. Thus, the EU legislature is important, and the contract with Bechtel&Enka doesn’t correspond with the description, and it is not adjusted to the EU legislation”, Ambassador Jan Kop said.

Regarding the “European flag”, the EU already stated its position that the use of the “European flag” is wrong in this case, the system is designed for the laws that bring the country closer to the achievement of the EU aqui and the Copenhagen criteria. For years now we – and many other representatives of the EU delegation – are warning of the abuse of the “European flag” in this process.

“The Argument used for the abuse of the flag is to avoid the opposition’s filibustering. The issue, however, is whether one uses the flag for issues that have no relation to European legislation, and that is exactly what happened here. The fight against corruption remains one of the weakest points, at least according to relevant international reports”, the Dutch Ambassador pointed out.

Asked for his opinion as to how the Macedonian Government deals with this problem, Ambassador Jan Kop said that he doesn’t see any progress – to the contrary, things are getting worse.

“There is corruption throughout the society, conflict of interests, influence over the non-governmental sector, nepotism, clientelism, while literally no one even considers the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption and the Ombudsman’s recommendations – not even the Government, the Parliament, and the Public Prosecutor! In fact, the SCPC Annual Report reveals that only 10% of the acts are processed, which is much less than the 20% in the 2021 Annual Report – by the way, the Parliament has not yet debated that report even after two years. Hence, there is no reason for optimism”, the Ambassador warned.

“As I said before, the corruption is a state of mind. It is everywhere. It is part of the mentality and should be changed now, because if you want to start the process of negotiations with the EU, this situation with the mentality and the political will, along with the impunity, which is the most hated among the citizens, must be changed now. If not, your desire to become part of the EU in 2023 will be just an illusion”, the Ambassador of Holland, Dirk Jan Kop concluded.